


Rebel Warmth

by Trish47



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, First Time, Force Bond (Star Wars), Huddling For Warmth, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Naked Cuddling, Sharing a Bed, Smut, Snow and Ice, Survival, Sweet/Hot, gratuitous use of em dashes, piloting the silencer, sassy bb8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 11:37:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17243543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trish47/pseuds/Trish47
Summary: While attempting to escape an ice storm on Hoth, Rey and Kylo Ren meet again. Together they shelter in an old Rebel base, finding creative ways to keep each other warm.





	Rebel Warmth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JaliyahJade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaliyahJade/gifts).



> This fic was written as part of The Writing Den's Winter Fic Exchange for Tasha. This fic let me explore so many of the tropes that I love. Thank you for the fun prompts, and I hope you enjoy this.

 

* * *

 

_Inhospitable._ That was the term General Organa had used to describe Hoth while detailing Rey's recognizance mission on the snow-covered planet in the Western Reaches.

Rey had to disagree with Leia. Hoth wasn't simply barren and unwelcoming -- Niima Outpost seemed an oasis in comparison -- it was downright hostile, and not because of its citizens. As far as Rey could tell, no species wished to willingly call the murderous tundra their home. The harsh weather conditions made the surface nearly uninhabitable.

Rey's relic T-47 airspeeder, which had been modified decades ago into a snowspeeder, struggled with the below freezing temperatures. Hoth’s winds rattled the cockpit's shoddy transparisteel panes. Not for the first time, she wished she hadn't had to leave the _Falcon_ at an abandoned Alliance outpost before traveling toward the interior, but Leia had insisted the snowspeeder's extra radiator panels would be critical to her success. Rey wasn't so sure.

"It'll be a miracle if we make it out of here with all our fingers, toes, and antennae," Rey commented to her only companion on this trip: Poe's spherical astromech, BB-8.

She hadn't been keen on taking the droid with her. Metal didn't fare well in cold climes, and Hoth was about as cold as it got on this side of the Galaxy. It was certainly the most frigid environment Rey had ever had the displeasure of visiting in her time working with Resistance forces. It reminded her too much of the desert nights she'd spent in her AT-AT, curled up with little more than a thin blanket to ward off the chill.

Except the temperatures on Hoth were lethal compared to those of her home planet. If something malfunctioned out here -- considering any backup was half a system away -- Rey would be dead before anyone could get to her.

"If there was any way to avoid it," Leia had told her, face solemn, "I wouldn't send you. But we need the intel."

Intel about the former Empire, that is. And a general sweep to see if the old Rebel base could temporarily store the weapons cache the Resistance was amassing. They'd learned they needed to scatter their supplies and personnel -- it was one of the reasons she'd been sent without Finn; they'd risked too much on Crait, keeping their people and ships together. They'd nearly been wiped out in one attack. That couldn't happen again.

Rey was thankful for the solo -- or near, given BB-8's presence in the tailgunner’s seat -- mission. The direct aftermath of the battle on Crait had left her with troubled dreams and an itch she couldn't pin down. All she knew was every time she closed her eyes or had a moment alone on the _Falcon_ , she saw dark eyes staring at her, pleading with her to. . .

To what, exactly? Join the First Order as some kind of empress? That's what B-- Kylo Ren had offered her in the throne room where they'd defeated Snoke's guards, the same location where Kylo -- no, _Ben_ \-- had slain his master. He'd done the latter to help her, of that much Rey was sure. It had hurt to see the hunger in his eyes shift from wanting _her_ to wanting power. It had struck her even harder to see him on his knees across their bond, haloed in dust motes, in the moment he realized it wasn't the power he wanted after all.

Rey had managed to close their bond, but she'd hardly stopped the ache she carried for him -- Ben Solo, Kylo Ren, whichever name he chose -- from plaguing her. She hoped a solitary mission where she'd need all her focus in order to survive would force her to forget about the Supreme Leader and his haunting, beautiful eyes.

So far, it wasn't working all that well.

Behind her, BB-8 chirped out a warning that the Rebel base was close and chided her for not slowing the engines. The snowspeeder didn’t have the maneuvering capacity of the _Falcon_ , the little astromech reminded her. It certainly didn't hold back its commentary.

"I'm distracted," Rey admitted in some form of apology, letting the ship coast instead of continuing to gun it across the icy terrain below them.

"No kidding," was the tone of the droid's reply.

Rey couldn't afford to lose focus. Not now. She would just have to push Ben Solo's face -- the one which had stared at her from across a fire in a hut on Ahch-To -- from her mind. He wasn't here to keep her warm if she crashed, and chances were, he would never stir the fire within her again.

 

* * *

 

He was seeing Takodana with new eyes, ones which were no longer shielded behind the dark visor of his helmet. The forest was greener than he remembered -- almost too vibrant. With the light pouring in through the tree canopy, he felt as though he were under a spotlight, exposed in a way that left him strangely self-conscious. Even in this place, it seemed, her presence lingered to judge him as her eyes had on Crait.

No matter where he turned these days, no matter how far he ventured, her fiery gaze and grim expression followed him. Maybe he deserved her judgement and scorn. His immediate retaliation on the salt-crusted planet was something he regretted; it had been an ill-advised, rash display of power which had resulted in utter humiliation and a special council meeting to designate him as a figurehead and not a tactical commander.

He’d let himself be demoted within the Order. Now he was Supreme Leader in name alone, and that was fine with Kylo. He had other concerns, namely, finding Rey.

As soon as he'd told Skywalker he would destroy her, he knew he would never be able to do it. From the very beginning, his overwhelming instinct was to protect the girl, to foster her talents, and to see her power grow. Fighting beside her in Snoke's throne room had only reaffirmed his belief they were meant to stand together, to create something which would change the Galaxy. The thought of cutting her down because of her allegiance to the Resistance was repugnant. If he couldn't find a way to fracture her alignment to the light and the weaker side of the war, well. . .he'd have to find another way to support and stand with her.

Kylo stood among the rocky terrain where he'd first stalked her down. Closing his eyes, he reached out to the energies surrounding him, delving deep until his mind brushed against the memory he sought. Immediately, he sensed her fear and swallowed back on the responding bile in his throat for having made her feel afraid. Of course, at the time, he'd pursued her with the intent to intimidate her. He couldn't fathom doing the same now, not after they'd come so far together.

But he pushed into the feeling, seeking the frayed ends of her fading Force signature. It was faint, but still there: a warm tingle at the back of his neck that spread through his nervous system, threading down his spine and extending into his gloved hands. He curled them into fists as if he could grasp the string and follow it straight to her current location.

His feet carried him forward without the need to open his eyes. Kylo followed her signature over tree roots and large stones, stopping only when he felt her phantom-self freeze in place as the result of his power. He'd subdued her physically, but her mind had raged, fighting against him without understanding how she was doing it.

Suddenly, the warmth on his neck blazed into something hotter, something fresh, and Kylo’s eyes flew open. Her name fell as a soft whisper from his lips: "Rey."

She was close. Not on planet, if he had to guess, but somewhere near. To feel her again after all these months apart nearly brought him to his knees. He hadn't realized just how deeply he worried for her, how being unable to feel her Force signature had left him uncertain of her safety -- a feeling he didn't enjoy in the least. He wanted her safe. He wanted her near.

"Supreme Leader," one of Hux's watch-dog captains called from several yards behind him. "There've been reports of activity on Hoth. Someone, it seems, has tapped into an old Empire mainframe."

Kylo closed his eyes again, rolling his jaw and licking his lips as though he could taste victory on his tongue. "Prepare my ship."

 

* * *

 

The cold sun didn't hold out long on Hoth. In the stormy season, as Rey had been informed, there were only a few hours of cycling light: three standard hours on, five off. She and BB-8 had found the Rebel base with less than an hour of light, then worked through one dark stint and half of the next light one.

"Run through your checklist again," Rey instructed the droid. "Make sure we haven't missed anything."

The low temperatures inside the base had started to affect not only Rey, but BB-8 too. Though the little astromech was normally spirited and quick, its basic functions had been hindered by the cold; simply going through a pre-programmed checklist took the droid a full five minutes. Its affirmative response was sluggish, almost sleepy. In no time, its battery reserves would be drained.

Rey's heart went out to the poor thing, even if it wasn't technically alive. "Good. Let's pack up and get out of here."

They made it to the hangar shortly after. Rey made sure the droid was loaded into the cockpit before pulling on her goggles and wrapping her scarf around her mouth, preparing to open the heavy metal door without the benefit of electricity. It was already a precious resource on Hoth, and there certainly wasn't enough emergency power to move the massive bay door.

Closing her eyes, Rey lifted her arms, extending her fingers as if she could grab on to the energy stream she could feel in the wind and snow on the other side of the barrier. She twisted the Force with her mind, twining her own strength around the external energies and pulling them to her, persuading them to lift the hangar door.

Slowly, they opened, letting in a blast of cold air filled with fluffy white flakes. The gust swirled around her, stealing her breath away, yet Rey’s concentration remained on her task. It was more difficult to lift the door a second time -- having already opened and closed it upon arrival. She was strong though, stronger than she had ever been, and she powered through while hardly breaking a sweat.

As soon as the door was locked overhead, Rey headed for the T-47’s cockpit, a proud smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. It faded when she reached for the engine controls and the snowspeeder’s boosters sputtered and died. "No, no, no," she muttered into her scarf.

Behind her, BB-8 supplied the likely culprit in a low trill: insufficient heat.

Rey was already hopping out of the cockpit to skid under the craft and work on the heating panels around the radiators. She couldn't say why, but she felt the need for urgency, though it had nothing to do with the upcoming dark-out. Maybe it was the way the winds howled or the way the snow dunes drifted like waves, pouring into the hangar with frightening speed. A storm was on the horizon -- one in which Rey and her mechanical companion didn't want to get stuck.

But there was something else too: an ominous gnawing in the pit of her stomach that said time was already up, that beyond the hazy white mountains she could see in the distance, something was already headed in their direction. Or someone.

"Ben."

 

* * *

 

His radar was almost useless. Kylo had flown right into the the center of a ice storm, and the freezing precipitation had thrown off the _Silencer’s_ navigational system. He was flying blind except for the Force. Thank the stars he'd been able to lock on to her signature and follow it like a beacon in his hellstorm. For a good while, it had been stagnant, barely flickering from one spot. Now, though, he could sense movement -- as if she were fleeing. There was an underlying hint of fear coloring the faint bond stretching between them.

Kylo did his best to reach out across the fragile link, to push into her mind the promise he wasn't pursuing her with ill-intent, but the walls she'd built against him were firmly in place. He could feel her, but he couldn’t break through. For now, he chose to concentrate on flying the _Silencer_ through less than ideal conditions.

Kylo gained on her in increments. Eventually, her ancient, makeshift snowspeeder came into view and he almost laughed. Rey really thought she could out maneuver him in that old thing? Her efforts would be in vain, though he was sure she’d give him a bold display of her piloting skills if he allowed it.

The truth was, he could shoot her down at any point; however, he didn't want to risk it. Harming her wasn't the plan. Since he couldn’t communicate that to her through their bond, he had to find another way to take her down. Instead of firing, he flew above her speeder and overtook it, lowering his ship in front of hers to get her to stop.

Her response was to ram him from behind, sending both of their crafts into a wild spiral, spinning over and over, sensors trilling from the impact and mechanical fallout. Combined with Hoth’s intense winds and raining ice, it was too much for his sensitive ship to take. Kylo brought it down -- not quite in a crash sequence -- landing rough but intact.

Upon leaving the warm confines of the _Silencer_ , Kylo discovered Rey’s ship hadn't fared nearly as well.

She kicked out a pane of transparisteel and clamored out, muttering something he couldn't hear but witnessed in the puffs of air around her mouth. He couldn't help thinking she should have her scarf wrapped around it to keep her lips from freezing together in the harsh winds. Though, Kylo considered, he'd more than happily thaw it again with his own mouth.

No sooner had the thought passed through his mind than Rey wheeled around to face him, arms outstretched as if she could control him with the Force as he -- and his former master -- had once done to her. He could sense she'd grown powerful in their months apart, but not powerful enough to control him in such a manner.

"Stay back!" she ordered, doubling her efforts to stall him.

If Kylo had any difficulty moving forward, he blamed it on the poor weather and the terrain, not the energy which blasted him. He didn't stay back, but he did stop several yards from her. Kylo watched her scan her wreck for a suitable weapon, but she had nothing except the blaster at her waist. When she reached for it, he promptly waved it away, sinking it into the snow a far distance from them instead of calling it into his hand.

"I didn't come here to fight, Rey," he called out over the roaring winds.

He expected her to retreat toward her ship, but she stood her ground. It was something he admired about her.

"Then why are you here?" she yelled back.

He hazarded closer, crossing his arms around himself. This was hardly the place to be holding this conversation, but if he didn't gain some semblance of her trust now, he'd have no hope of holding a more civil discussion later.

"I felt you through the Force," he explained, still at top volume to combat the gusts threatening to carry his words away. "That hadn't happened since Crait."

She gritted her teeth. Kylo couldn't determine if it was from the cold or her disdain. "That's because I didn't _want_ you to find me."

Her response stung more than the air forcefully dragging tears from the edges of his eyes. Kylo crossed his arms over his chest, pulling his cloak more tightly over his chest as the wind kicked up again. "I would have continued searching."

 

* * *

 

Floored at the sincerity in his voice, Rey gaped at him until her teeth hurt from the cold. He'd been looking for her, and he would have persisted until he found her. It was as thrilling a thought as it was unsettling.

Rey didn't let him garner a heroic luster to his crown of dark hair. She pushed up her goggles so she could look him in the eyes. " _Pursuing_ , you mean," she snapped. " _Hunting_ me so you could finish your work on Crait and eliminate your enemy."

He took a threatening step toward her, arms reaching out as if to grab her but stopping mid-motion. His jaw clenched tight, though there was no anger in his eyes, only hurt. "I don't want you dead, Rey. I want us to work together."

Another offer to become co-rulers of the Galaxy? She thought the one on the _Supremacy_ would be the only one he’d ever extend, but it sounded like he meant it. Rey raged against the thought. "That's not going to happen, _Supreme Leader_."

Instead of retaliating, perhaps pulling out his lightsaber and slicing her in two, Ben backed up a step. His head looked to the sky then fell to her ship. "Whatever the future may hold, it isn't going to matter if we die now. We need to seek shelter before the next dark cycle. With this storm, once we lose what little light there is, it'll be an hour at most until we succumb to the elements."

She hated that he had a point, but what was he proposing now? That they work together to ensure their mutual survival? How could she trust him? She wanted to, stars did she want to, but Crait loomed large in her memory.

"Your ship should still work,” she said. “Why don't you fly back to wherever it is you came from?"

"I'm not leaving you here."

"I'm not going with you." She turned to face her snowspeeder -- a lost cause. She'd have to hike back to the base if she wanted to have a fighting chance. The _Falcon_ was still too far off. She wasn’t sure she could locate it without a navigational system or BB-8, which had powered down during their harrowing flight. In either case, she'd probably freeze to death before she reached her destination. Her flight-suit was woefully under-insulated for the environment.

"Rey--" His hand on her shoulder made her startle and whip around. He was so close now, large body crowding her against the dead craft’s hull. "Please. Let me help you."

She didn't want to say “yes.” She was afraid to say it, fearful of what else she might agree to if she started with such a simple, obliging word. This man could make her spiral out of control just like her ship if she wasn't careful. What was more concerning? Rey wasn't sure how much she would mind.

He braced himself around her, gloved hands fanning out near her head on either side of the T-47, as if he could shield her from the wind and ice with his body alone. And damn him and his broad shoulders, but it did manage to keep the wind from lashing her skin so fiercely.

Brown eyes stood out against his pale skin. With the snowy backdrop, his features were even more prominent: his skin looked almost tan in these surroundings, though she knew it to be far paler than her own; his hair whipped around his face in a black cloud; and his lips -- so close to her own as he leaned in further -- were as red as she had ever seen them. Chapped, perhaps, but still plenty inviting.

Rey shivered so intensely it made her teeth chatter. Ben noticed and slipped his scarf from around his neck, looped it around her own, and tucked the ends of both scarves down the front of her flight-suit. Rey wanted to protest the action, but her mouth had gone impossibly dry.

"Am I going to have to carry you to my ship, or are you going to come without a fuss?"

Rey was tempted to stick her tongue out at him, except she was sure it would turn into ice instantly, so she crossed her arms instead. "The only way I'm getting into your ship is if I get to fly it."

His eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he nodded his assent. "Fine. Let's go."

 

* * *

 

He turned away from her, moving toward the _Silencer_ first and giving her the choice -- what little choice there was -- of following. He climbed into his craft, sitting in the only available seat and waited. Rey entered as soon as he began the engine’s launch sequence.

"You have to move," she told him, nodding at the pilot’s chair. "That's my seat for this flight."

"If you'll notice, it's the only seat for this flight," he returned without looking at her, busy with his startup protocol. "We'll share."

"Share?" Kylo could hear the indigence in her tone. "That wasn't the deal."

"I'm not impeding you from flying," he remarked, spreading his legs in an effort to offer her somewhere to perch. "Now, close the hatch and let's move. Darkness is descending."

Rey did seal the cabin, but eyed the seating arrangement dubiously. There was precious little room for her to squeeze into; she'd be nestled between his thighs like this, backside pressed against the hottest part of him. It felt impossible with Hoth's cold environment, but Kylo swore he felt heat on his cheeks over the realization.

Rey's face seemed to have more color than normal too. When she approached, she nudged his legs together, then used them as a seat instead. She planted one leg on either side of his own, taking hold of the steering column and looking down at the lights on the dashboard, orienting herself. Kylo’s hands dug into the armrests of the chair in order to keep them off of her. "Toggle the thrusters," he said quietly, a rasp at the back of his throat.

She shook her head. "Thrusters won't get us off the ground."

Ben growled at the argument. "I know my ship. Listen to me." His voice didn't invite protest. Placing one hand on her hip, Ben leaned forward until his chest bumped against the curve of her spine, reaching around to flip on the undercarriage thrusters of which he spoke. "Hit the accelerator, but be careful. It’s--"

He didn't have the chance to tell her that the _Silencer_ wasn't like most TIE fighters. Indeed, it had a mind of its own, knocking this way and that at its own whim if left unchecked. It required a firm, confident hand to keep it under control.

Rey's acceleration was less than smooth. The ship rocked violently and shot up into the air, taking them both by surprise. Instinctively, Kylo’s hands sought purchase on the steering column, overlapping Rey's entirely and squeezing. It bought him an elbow to the sternum.

"I can do this," she insisted.

"Then prove it, sweetheart."

Kylo froze. What had he just called her? _Sweetheart_? That was a term his father had been fond of calling his mother when he was young. It wasn't something he'd meant to call Rey, not to her face. He couldn't deny he’d thought of her over the past months, always late at night while alone, and whispered the endearment, picturing her spread out beside him.

"I'm not your ‘sweetheart,’" Rey chided him.

"No," he agreed. "No, you're not. But you _are_ my pilot. Focus."

Her hips ground down onto his lap as if to say she was doing just that, and Kylo had to fight off a groan. Now was not the time to play out a fantasy he'd long held about taking her in his fighter, imagining she’d be as wild under his touch as the ship he commanded.

Rey reined in the controls and forced the _Silencer_ to submit to her will, turning it back in the direction from which they'd come. Although the ship did her bidding, the weather did not. Fierce winds and hail the size of his fist battered the side of the ship, throwing off their trajectory in the process. Rey hissed against nature's cruel attack, her arms locked straight, hands strangling the controls in her effort to get them back to the Rebel base in one piece.

"Help me." It was a whispered request, one not easily made.

Kylo didn't hesitate. He slid his gloves down her sleeves and took hold of the outside of the handles, keeping her hands on the inside. He inclined forward so he could see out of the transparisteel, and they forced the ship to fight back against the barrage. In the thin gap between their bodies, heat rose as their Force signatures entwined, joining together with their combined efforts. It was similar to what he'd felt in the _Supremacy’s_ throne room facing off against Snoke's guards with Rey as his ally.

Still, their struggles weren’t sufficient. Combined with his earlier rough landing, the weather proved too much. The fighter whined under the strain. "We have to put the ship down now, or risk breaking apart."

"The base is over the next ridge," Rey protested. "We're almost there."

"We won't make it," he argued.

When it felt like she was going to continue fighting him and pushing them to the limit, Kylo did the only thing he could think of: lean in and try to distract her by lowering his voice to a persuasive purr. "I'll reward you later, Rey, if you listen to me now."

His strategy worked. In another moment, they were on the ground, safe in a manner of speaking. The storm raged around them, and the dark had nearly overtaken the planet, but they were alive and together.

 

* * *

 

Rey inched forward on his lap until she was balancing mostly on his knees, suddenly uncomfortable with having herself pressed entirely against him. His whispered promise had her heart thrumming inside her chest in a way that made her muscles want to relax into his embrace, not try to escape it. How could that have happened so quickly?

_This isn't your imagination, Rey,_ she warned herself. _This is real. He's here. Tread carefully._

Clearing her throat and half-turning to see him, she asked, "What now?"

The cabin wouldn't stay warm for long, certainly not long enough to ride out a storm on Hoth, if Leia's warnings proved true: they could last for days, weeks in some cases. Then again, the base she and BB-8 had explored was more than a mile off. It would be dangerous, perhaps fatally so, to attempt to reach it in these conditions.

"We'll have to risk walking," he said reluctantly, as if he could read her thoughts.

“Are you insane?” Rey asked. “We’ll never make it.”

Ben plucked at the puffed jacket she was wearing. Though it seemed well-insulated, the suit dated from the Battle of Hoth and had seen better days. It wasn’t meant to withstand the temperatures and weather conditions outside of the base.

Ben’s lips turned down in a scowl. “The Resistance couldn’t supply their prized Jedi with more adequate apparel?”

Rey remained uncomfortable with the idea she was prized by anyone after being a nobody all of her life. She shrugged off his hand. “It was satisfactory for my mission. If you hadn’t--”

“We didn’t have to crash,” he told her, unclipping his cloak’s closure at his throat. “You were the one who made that happen.”

“You were chasing me.” Rey could have out-maneuvered him if she’d tried harder. The T-47 didn’t have the superior speed of the _Silencer,_ but she could have flown it toward the mountains and lost him in the rocky crevices. Her anger had gotten the best of her in the moment.

“A matter of semantics. We need to go,” Ben persisted. “Take this.”

He lifted his hips so high he almost unseated her. Rey finished the job, stood, and turned to face him, resting one knee on the edge of the pilot’s chair close to his crotch. She braced herself against the backrest for balance as Ben wiggled the long, fur-lined cloak out from under him. Rey shook her head all the while.

“I don’t want your charity,” she told him, attempting to wave off the offer. On accident, her hand stroked along the soft fur, warm from his body heat, and she had to hold in a sound that would give away how much she truly desired it.

“Ensuring your survival isn’t charity, Rey. It’s strategy.” His arms looped beneath hers and stretched the fabric across her back, settling the cloak into place. Rey remained motionless, unable to fight the spell his proximity cast over her. His fingers tugged at the cloak’s collar, securing the closures at the base of her throat.

“Strategy,” she repeated, an edge to her tone as she processed his words. “Is that what I am? Some grand plan of yours?”

His eyes jumped from her throat to her eyes. “Rey, you aren’t a plan. Grand or otherwise.” His leather glove caressed the curve of her jaw. “I’ve eschewed any thought of making you something you aren't. I only--”

She felt like she couldn’t breathe. What was he trying to say? Before she could ask him to elaborate, Ben took hold of her shoulders and pushed himself to a stand. “Let’s go.”

Rey skirted around him and climbed down the exit shaft, unsealing the door and disembarking into a wind that stole the air from her lungs. Her boots sunk almost to the calves in the drifting snow, and it took extra effort to move out of the way so Ben could follow. Rey drew up the cloak’s hood and clutched it tightly beneath her chin.

Because of his weight, Ben’s legs sank almost to his knees in the snow. If their walk seemed hard in theory, it appeared almost impossible in practice. They’d have to trudge through terrible conditions while being pelted with ice and whipped by terrible winds. Rey had lived her life on a planet with one of the harshest environments in the Galaxy, but it had nothing on Hoth during a storm system. She almost longed for Jakku’s sandstorms.

Ben pushed ahead, using his legs to plow out a path in the snow. He kept his arms crossed over his chest, leaning his body forward into the storm. Though she was sure his flight-suit was more insulated than her own, Rey felt a tinge of guilt eat at her. He’d given up his cloak and his scarf to her, and he was suffering for his kindness. Without the items, she wouldn’t have stood a chance; Ben must have realized that fact.

She kept close to him, fearful the near-darkness or the blizzard-like conditions would obscure him from her sight. She didn’t want to lose him. More than once, when Ben stopped to rest from his efforts, Rey bumped into him. She didn’t bother pulling away, opting to huddle against his back and wrap her arms around his torso to conserve the fleeting warmth between them. He never said a word, only tapped her arms when he was ready to continue.

Another half an hour passed, putting them firmly in darkness. The yawning bay of the Rebel base came into sight at the bottom of the ridge, making Rey’s heart surge with elation. All they had to do now was make their way down. They were almost there.

Ben stopped again, his body curling at the top as if in pain, large gloved hands clapped over his ears. Rey was sure they’d be frostbitten by now. She waded through the deep snow, circling around to stand before him, and slid her own hands beneath his, cupping his chilled ears.

“Rey?” His voice was hoarse even though they hadn’t shared a word between them throughout the arduous hike.

Instead of dwelling on why his voice wavered, Rey brought her forehead forward, resting it on his chest and focusing her Force energy into her hands. When Ben realized what she was doing, his hands clamped down more, only drawing them away once his ears were heated again.

He bent his head until his nose and mouth were buried in the fabric of the hood. “Save your strength,” he said. “You’re going to need it.”

Rey did feel her knees dip slightly, but her use of the Force wasn’t the culprit: the man whose breath warmed her neck, whose nose disturbed the hair come loose from her buns, was wholly responsible for her response. Just as she was going to tell him he would need his strength too, a loud roar split through the howling wind.

Rey’s head snapped up and to the right at the sound so quickly Ben didn’t have time to retreat from the hood framing her face. The abrupt movement caused their lips to touch -- nothing more than a fleeting brush -- but Ben’s whole upper body wheeled back as if she’d just electrocuted him. One of his gloves flew to his mouth, a dark brow quirking at her. His eyes were wide with shock; Rey was sure hers were similarly sized.

Another roar refocused her attention on the danger nearby. “That sounds close.”

“A wampa,” Ben explained, dropping his hand though he continued to look at her with a mysterious expression. “Loathsome creatures. One almost killed my uncle when he was young.”

“Luke?” Rey clarified. “It can kill Jedi?”

Ben’s hand grasped her own, holding onto it as he began to turn back toward the base. “Anything can kill a Jedi when they’re half frozen to start. Let’s go before it decides it’s looking for a meal. You already look enough like one.”

His phrasing gave her pause, but Rey decided to ignore the secondary meaning her brain supplied. Clearly, Ben was only talking about her as a food source for the creatures, nothing more. Rey had no desire to tarry, but she did have one suggestion. She tugged on his hand to get Ben to look at her. “Let me go first for now. We’ll alternate so we don’t have to stop again.”

Ben nodded and shifted so she could take the lead. Surprised yet pleased, Rey smiled until her cheeks hurt from the cold and she began to make headway down the ridge.

 

* * *

 

Together as partners, they made quick work of traversing the slope of the final ridge. Rey kicked at the snow -- now knee deep for her, and thigh deep for him -- with double the ferocity Kylo did. He was worried she would tire herself out and collapse, so he stood near at all times, sometimes placing a hand on her side or her hip to steady her. He had no chance to wrap his arms around her middle as she had for him; when she was spent, he took over her work.

By the time they reached the hangar, they were both exhausted, unable to do more than breathe and shiver. Under his protective flight-suit, Kylo could feel his skin was slick with sweat. If Rey’s was similarly wet, they’d have to change out of their clothing in short order or risk hypothermia. Even being inside the base didn’t ease the cold by much.

Finally, Rey stood up and indicated a door at the other end of the room. “The operations center is through there. We should be able to reroute some of the power, though there’s not much in the reserves according to BB-8.”

He could hear her voice catch on the name of what, he assumed, was the orange and white droid he’d once tracked for a section of a map. Was she worried about an astromech? Of all things?

Not wanting to discount her feelings, he stood as well and assured her, “The droid will be fine. They go dormant in poor conditions like this.” She nodded, though Kylo could see something was still wrong. There were tears in her eyes. Where had those come from? “Rey, what is it?”

She was backing toward the door, shaking her head. “Nothing.”

He didn’t believe her. Kylo closed his eyes and searched for their bond, cringing when he sensed what he had on Takodana: the acrid taste of Rey’s fear. So, she was afraid? Because of him? Hadn’t they just worked together to reach the base? Hadn’t he made it clear he had no intention of harming her?

“Rey.”

“Just. . .let’s get inside and get the heat working,” Rey said, shaking her head again as though trying to dislodge something from her mind. Her frown said she wasn’t wholly successful. “I’m freezing.”

He didn’t argue or seek to push her to open up to him, only nodded and followed.

After quickly orienting himself to the outdated technology -- which hadn’t even been state-of-the-art when his mother and the Rebel forces had first hidden themselves on Hoth -- Kylo searched for the metal box which regulated the generator system. There was still emergency power in the operations center, but it did little more than illuminate critical instruments.

“I’ll have to jumpstart the main generators if we want any heat,” he informed her.

Rey nodded. “I’ll work on containing the circulation. No need to heat the whole base.”

Setting to their tasks, Kylo opened the control panel and attempted to connect the dormant generators to the heating system with a small metal stylus. He'd always been good at tinkering with things; he'd constructed his own lightsaber as a young man, and though it was imperfect, it had served him well. His knack for fixing things and creating power out of defunct and broken objects hadn't faded over the years.

Rey mumbled from underneath the computer mainframe. "I can't connect the receptacles. My fingers are too cold." He heard her blow on them with force. "And even if I can limit the heat to one room, it won't matter unless you can get the generators to--"

The sudden sound of rumbling power abruptly severed her doubt. Kylo dropped his hands from the control panel and knelt next to her by the computers. He didn’t try to hide the smirk on his lips. "You were saying?"

"I can do this," she muttered, plunging her hands back into the wiring under the main panel with renewed vigor.

"May I suggest redirecting the heat to one of the bunkrooms?" He looked around at the operations center to confirm his words were sound advice. "Unless you'd like to sleep in a chair."

"What makes you think I'm going to sleep at all?" she fired back, extracting her hands to blow on them again.

Kylo reached forward and captured one hand with both of his, creating a small hole for his mouth and using his breath to heat her half-frozen fingers. Rey watched him, mouth slack for the second time that day.

"Do you still not trust me, Rey?" he asked, switching to her other hand. "Or did you have other plans in mind for this evening?"

Rey snatched her hand away from him, burying both into her work once more. Color crept up the sides of her throat and into the tips of her ears. "I have to keep my eyes on you."

His expression hardened. “Ah, so you’re afraid of me.”

“I’m not.”

Kylo’s ears perked up at the quiet, yet firm admission. It didn’t change what he knew to be true: she thought him a monster. “I felt your fear in the hangar,” he stated, challenging her to deny it.

Hands still wrapped in wires, Rey looked up at him. The last time he’d seen her face so serious had been in Snoke’s throne room, arguing with his master about her convictions the Supreme Leader had underestimated his pupil. “I’m _not_ afraid of you, Ben.”

The name rattled him. He hadn’t been sure she’d ever be able to see him as Ben Solo again, not after what he’d done following her rejection. He had trouble viewing himself as anything other than Kylo Ren, yet his old name sounded like music coming from her lips. “Then, what--?”

“I’m afraid of me,” she rushed out, rummaging under the computers again. “Of not being able to get off this death trap of a planet, of turning to ice in my sleep, of being shut up in a bunkroom with you.”

He stood, arms crossed, as he listened to her list of concerns. The cold was certainly a valid worry -- he was failing to fight off increasing fits of shivers -- but the rest of them were all things she had no need to dwell on. At the end of her list, he instructed, “Rey, breathe.”

She didn’t listen to him, only muttered something under her breath. Her grumbles died away a beat later, replaced with a sound of triumph. "There! Got it!"

Ben -- he was going to give every effort to see himself as she did, starting with is name -- returned the smile she gifted to him. "I had every faith you would." He held out his hand to help her up. Though she hesitated, Rey accepted the offer and allowed him to pull her to her feet. “Now, let’s settle in the bunkroom.”

 

* * *

 

It was as if every hair were standing at attention beneath her poorly-insulated flight-suit. Her whole body tensed, tiny pebbles of prickled flesh erupting over her skin as though trying to create a natural armor against the cold. She felt stiff as a board and was still covered with a thin layer of sweat beneath her clothes. Something had to be done.

The closest sleeping quarters only contained twelve beds, four units squeezed into a moderately sized space, each with a bottom, middle, and top bunk. It appeared as though they hadn’t been touched since the Battle of Hoth; some were made to regulation standards, but most looked like their last occupants had rushed to leave them, the blankets rumpled into piles.

“Plenty of choice,” Rey remarked. This was ideal. They’d be able to sleep on opposite sides of the room, and Rey wouldn’t have to think about having him close enough to touch. She’d told him the truth. She was afraid of herself -- of being unable to deny herself what she wanted.

Ben had other ideas. Turning his gaze to the ceiling, he pointed across the room at the bunks nearest to the far wall. “Those beds are beneath the vents. It’s going to take some time before this room is warm, but you can thaw out up there.”

He had a point. He seemed to have a lot of those today. But if Rey was on the highest bunk, closest to the heater. . . “Where are you going to sleep?”

“I’ll take the next one over.”

Rey nodded, though her gut lurched at the idea of separation. _No, he needs to stay away,_ she told her traitorous stomach, chewing on her bottom lip. Rey removed his fur-lined cloak and held it out to him, instantly mourning the loss of its warmth but knowing it was the right thing to do. “You’ll be farther from the vent. Here.”

Their fingers brushed as he grasped the fabric. “Are you sure? You’re shivering.”

Still clutching the thick cloak, Rey’s eyes shot up to his. A slight tremble in his bottom lip gave him away. “So are you.”

His response was to tug on the cloak. Rey wanted to relinquish it, but her hand would not obey her command to release her grip. Another little yank found Rey falling against him with a gasp, hands braced on his broad chest.

“We could share it. Keep each other warm,” Ben whispered.

She should fight this. She should shove away from him and keep him at a distance. She should ignore how the blood warmed in her veins as her heartbeat quickened. It wasn’t like they were outside in the storm; they didn’t need to huddle together to survive.

Rey attempted to heed her own advice. “I’ll be fine,” she stammered, letting go of the cloak, backing up, and bumping into the frame of the bunk behind her. “I don’t need it. I just need to change out of these clothes.”

The way his eyebrow rose made her swallow with difficulty. “Oh?” He nodded, agreeing with her. “Yes, undressing is wise.”

He unclasped the front of his flight-suit’s vest and shrugged out of it before Rey could process what was happening. Then he started on his long-sleeved shirt, and her entire system kick-started. She swerved around, face flushing with color. Why did Ben find it so easy to be half-naked in front of her? She heard more shuffling and realized he hadn’t stopped at his top and vest.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting warm,” he replied. “You should do the same.”

“I’m not undressing in front of you.”

“Shy?” he asked, sounding truly curious. “You shouldn’t be. You’re beautiful.”

Another flash of heat coursed through her, this time sitting low in her abdomen. She whipped around, finger pointed at his chest -- his very bare, impressive chest. “You--” She momentarily lost her train of thought, gaze dipping lower to see just how far he’d gotten in undressing and realizing he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. A sound escaped her, but she grit her teeth and made herself meet his eyes again. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

Ben’s brow knit with confusion. He stepped forward, towering over her as he had in the elevator on the _Supremacy_. “That you’re beautiful?”

Her face was so hot now it burned. “Ben.”

His fingers caressed her cheek, making her shiver with desire first and cold second. She was freezing, and the closer Ben got, the more she realized he could be the remedy for that particular problem. Maybe they could split his cloak after all, at least until the heating vent warmed the room.

Ben’s thoughts were already there. Bending forward until his mouth was at her ear, he whispered, “Rey. Let’s share a bunk.”

 

* * *

 

“You’re awfully keen on sharing things with me,” Rey remarked, keeping her chin tucked to her chest, eyes locked on the floor.

He used the side of his index finger to tilt her head up again. “Is that so wrong?”

Ben watched her volley between the choices before her: pull away and rest alone or agree to his suggestion. He waited patiently, not wanting to force her into a decision she didn’t wish to make. At the same time, the room was too cold for him to remain standing in front of her, unclothed.

He stepped around her, cloak trailing at his side. “I’ll be on the bottom bunk behind you,” he said softly, “whatever you decide.”

Ben stripped the bed of its blanket, tossing it to the ground along with the layers of dust it held in the fibers. Then, settling on the cool mattress, he pulled the cloak over him and curled his long legs up as much as he could to get his toes out of the cold. He wasn’t tired in the least, but closed his eyes as he waited to see what Rey was going to do.

For a long moment, she remained motionless. He was sure she would climb the ladder and scale to the top bunk, ignoring his offer. Why would she accept it? They’d flown together, trudged through a mile or more of snow and ice together, and fixed the heating system inside the base together. All points of progress in his eyes. Perhaps this was a step too much for them to take.

His thoughts must have distracted him from listening to her, because the next thing he felt was the cloak lifting from his back, exposing him again to the chilled room. Rey hopped onto the mattress, stretched out behind him, and pressed herself flush against him. The sensation of her body made one thing very clear.

“You’re not wearing any clothes.” It wasn’t a question.

She used her knuckle to dig into the space above his kidney -- not hard enough to make him jerk away, but firm enough to tell him she meant business. “Don’t get any ideas, Solo. This is a matter of survival.”

Attempting to not disturb the cloak, Ben flipped over to face her, creating a small amount of space between their bodies. Warm air drifted between them, their naked skin already doing what it did best: giving off heat.

“I would never let you die,” he murmured.

The initial shock on her face at his movement melted into something more benign. “You tried to kill me,” she countered.

His face fell, realizing she was speaking of Crait. “I didn’t know you were in the _Falcon_. If I had--”

Her finger pressed against his lips, silencing him. “I won’t dwell on the past if you don’t.”

His eyes widened, genuinely surprised by the offer to move beyond what had happened between them on that miserable planet. Nodding in confirmation, he whispered, “I mean it, though. Rey, I will do all within my power to--”

“Ben.” She cut him off again, three fingers on his lips this time. Soon it would be her whole hand. When he continued looking at her, she said, “Just, hold me? I’m freezing.”

She was shivering to the point it was beginning to worry him. “Come here. I’ll warm you up.”

He snaked one arm beneath her head and used the other to drape over her back, pressing at the base of her spine until she angled against him. The contact was electric to his skin. She was composed of contrasts: firm lines and sharp bones set between feminine curves. Her nipples rubbed against his chest, hard and peaked -- probably from the cold. Probably.

Rey shifted, sliding her knee between his legs and planting her soft thigh between his. He clamped down before it could venture too high and encounter his obvious reaction to her. She said she didn’t want this to be about anything except survival, but the smirk climbing up the corners of her mouth told him a different story.

“Better?” he rasped, unable to hide the way she affected him from his voice.

“Almost,” she said, wriggling up on the pillow so her face could be level with his. “There’s one part of me you’re neglecting.”

“Oh?” he asked, his eyes taking in each part of her face, from her creased brow and hazel eyes to the gentle swell of her bottom lip. “What’s that?”

Her tongue darted out over her chapped lips right before she leaned across the scant inches separating them and kissed him. “Right there.”

His body jerked forward, then tensed. “Kriff,” he exclaimed softly, knowing Rey had felt his stiff length against her leg. “Rey--”

She didn’t use her fingers to silence him this time, only her mouth. Relaxing into her kiss, Ben returned her attentions, sliding his tongue long the seam of her mouth and slipping it inside when she opened to him. The kiss started out slow, almost exploratory -- her fingers touched his cheek, then swept into his hair, threading through the strands -- but spiraled into a hot, uncoordinated exchange. Rey’s mouth was more insistent than his own; her teeth nipped at his lower lip before brushing away the sting with her tongue.

Ben broke away from her mouth, dragging his lips down the column of her throat. Rey inclined her head, giving him access to all he wanted. One hand skated up her body, thumb flicking over an erect nipple, eliciting a cry from her mouth.

“Where else have I neglected?” he whispered between kisses. “I don’t want to overlook anything.”

Rey’s body arched into his as his mouth moved down to her shoulder, then across her collarbone. At his words, her legs moved to sandwich his top leg between her own, grinding against his thigh for friction. An unmistakable wetness smeared against his skin with the motion, making her intent clear, though all she could utter was a moaned, “ _Ben._ ”

Continuing to kiss his way along her chest and throat, Ben’s hand slid down and between her legs, fingers splitting her folds with care and gently stroking the heat between them. He hoped she couldn’t feel how his hand shook, nervous to touch her so intimately. It was something he’d imagined countless times, but fantasies did not equate with hands-on practice. Slowly, he pushed his middle finger inside of her, groaning over the hot sheath pulsing around him.

Rey gasped, her hips grinding down on as if to get him further inside. As he kissed his way back up to her lips, he heard her whimper his name again.

 

* * *

 

"Still cold?" he rasped, teeth scraping lightly against the shell of her ear. It sent her body into an uncontrollable shiver, though it had nothing to do with the freezing room.

Ben knew it too, knew exactly what he was doing to her. Well, she may have been entirely new to this, but she'd be damned if she didn't rattle him a little in the process. It was just a matter of finding the right button to press, the right weakness to exploit. What weakness did Ben Solo have?

One possibility came to mind. How could it not, when the thing in question was rubbing hot and hard against her thigh? Smirking, she played into his ego for a brief moment, trailing kisses under his jaw, running her hand over his shoulder and down his back. "You might be warming me up a little," she allowed herself to admit. "But you could do better, couldn't you?"

As she said it, her had slipped between their bodies and wrapped around him. Her palm blazed with smooth, heavy heat. They both moaned at the sensation. Ben's teeth caught her earlobe in retaliation.

"Careful, Rey," he warned, withdrawing his hand from between her legs. "Play with fire and you risk getting burned." To punctuate his threat, he rocked his hips forward; he slid through her hand, the blunt head of his cock nudging the skin under her bellybutton. He let out another groan, this one more pleased than surprised. Stammering with uncertainty, he added, "We-we don’t have to do this."

_He thinks he can back out now? Not a chance._ Rey's fingers tightened, stroking up and down his silky length, spreading the dampness they encountered to make the motion slicker.

Ben's head dropped into the crook of her shoulder, breath huffing against her skin. It was at that moment Rey realized he was just as lost as she was. It wasn't that he thought he could stop this; it was that he didn't know how to proceed.

"Does it feel good?" she asked, sounding a bit uncertain herself.

"Kriff, yes." He pulled it together enough to cage her face with his hands and stare at her with such intensity Rey forgot how to breathe. He lowered his mouth to hers, gentler than before.

"Please, Rey," he whispered against her lips. "Please, don't go."

That he thought she would abandon him now was ridiculous. "I'm not going anywhere."

Rey kissed him again, relishing the way his tongue swept inside her mouth to brush against hers. Her hand twisted back and forth, up and down, firm yet careful. She wanted to learn what he liked, though he seemed to be enjoying every touch.

Pulling away from her mouth, he murmured, "I thought I was the one who promised to reward you?”

And just like that, he began to move lower, gently breaking her hands away from his cock and holding them against mattress near her hips while his mouth crossed the column of her throat, the rise of her chest, the muscles of her stomach. It was torment in the sweetest sense; Rey felt as though he was sampling each part of her body, determining what to eat first.

He came to his decision quickly enough.

"Ben!" she gasped as his tongue flicked between the folds of her sex.

"Oh, Rey." He sounded as pleased as she had ever heard him -- almost proud, if she had to label it. "Sweetheart, you're so wet." He licked her again, then pressed his plush lips to her center, stiffened his tongue, and pushed it into her. Rey's hips rose off the bunk in response, a curse falling from her mouth. “It's dangerous to be this wet with the cold.”

"Are you--" Rey panted, already out of breath though he had barely begun to taste her. "What are you going to do about it?"

His mouth turned into the crease of her thigh, kissing a hot trail across to her clit and making Rey buck. "I suppose I should lap it up," he told her. "For safety's sake."

"Yes," she breathed, finally freeing one of her hands and immediately sinking her fingers into his thick hair. "Please."

 

* * *

 

She was molten on his tongue. Ben thrummed his approval low in his throat as he closed as much of his mouth over her as possible, sucking loudly. He didn't know what to expect when he went down on her, but to find her practically dripping had made him yearn to taste her. He ran his tongue from her opening to her clit several times until Rey's hands finally held him in place at the top.

Ben took her cue and closed his lips around the hard bump, stimulating it with alternating pressure. It wasn't a surprise to discover she responded more vocally -- crying out -- when he sucked with some force. In everything she did, Rey went in full throttle. Why should this be any different?

He did his best to keep up, swirling his tongue around her clit in double time to the rate she drove her hips into his face. Ben could barely breathe with her hands keeping him pressed into her so deeply, but he couldn't complain. She was too hot, too delicious, to give up.

"Ben," she called from the pillow. "Inside. I need something inside. You. _Kriff._ You, inside me."

His head spun. She really wanted him? It hardly seemed possible. “You’re sure?”

“ _Ben,_ ” she hissed as he pulled away from her to kiss her stomach. Her hands grasped his upper arms and tugged until he indulged her, lifting himself over her once again. He settled between her legs, but made no motion to insert himself -- something which seemed to frustrate her if the way her body writhed beneath him was any indication.

“Do you want me, Rey?” he asked again, kissing the hollow of her throat. “Tell me what you want.”

“I’ve already told you.” Her nails scraped along his spine, and her teeth found his earlobe.

If he had any fantasies about their first time being gentle and slow -- tentative, even, given their lack of experience -- they were quickly erased by the carnal desire in her eyes and the insistent way she kissed the spot beneath his ear. Her hands stroked down until they cupped his ass, squeezing with purpose.

An eyebrow rose in question. “Are you going to tease me, Ben Solo, or are you going to reward me like you promised?”

With a question like that, it was incredibly difficult to keep himself from plunging inside of her. Though he had never done this before, he’d overhead stories from his subordinates and spent enough time on the HoloNet to know he needed to exercise some caution. He wanted this to be pleasurable, not painful.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Rey.”

She ran her fingers through the edges of his hair, holding his eyes hostage with her own. “Ben, I--” Her voice trailed off, and her eyelids fluttered closed. He followed suit, resting his forehead against hers.

He didn’t so much hear the words as he _felt_ them -- a warm brush of the Force against his cheek: _I trust you._

They were the words he needed her to say. They weren’t limited to this intimate exchange, but rang true on a deeper level, one that called to mind the moments they’d shared in her hut on Ahch-To. She’d trusted him them, opening herself up to talk about something that made her feel vulnerable and isolated. _I’ve never felt so alone,_ she’d told him. He never wanted her to feel that way again.

“Rey,” he breathed. “I--”

Her lips surged up to silence him. At the same moment, her hips canted until all he had to do was push inside of her. Ben didn’t wait for further invitation. He eased into her with all the restraint he could muster, moaning at the way her walls pulsated around him, tightening and releasing as though wanting to swallow him inch by inch.

A whimper made him freeze halfway in. “Am I hurting you?” he asked again, still concerned.

Her fingers rubbed the creases on his forehead, then smoothed down to his cheeks, her left thumb tracing the scar she’d given him. “No. It feels good,” she whispered. “You-- so _good._ ”

Ben’s head turned so he could capture her thumb between his teeth, nipping at the pad before licking it in apology. “Wrap your legs around me.”

He had to help her, but soon Rey had her ankles locked on his lower back and Ben continued to sink inside of her, kissing her all the while. Once he was fully sheathed, he took a deep breath, attempting to push the sublime sensation she created within him into her mind. Something must have clicked, because Ben received a response: the feeling of being so full it almost made him forget how to breathe.

“Kriff,” he said out loud. “You are incredible. _Incredible._ ”

 

* * *

 

_He has no idea how incredible he is,_ Rey thought while she wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers stroking the ends of his hair while he waited for her to adjust to him. Rey knew it needed to happen, that moving too quickly could lead to pain -- especially when he filled her so entirely -- but this was one thing she discovered she had no patience to endure. She’d perfected the art of waiting on Jakku, but she was far from the sandy planet now. And Ben Solo was already in the cocoon of her arms. The idea of stalling, of remaining still while he was inside of her, was absolutely maddening.

Her frustration bubbled over the bond between them, and Ben chuckled lightly, the sound airy and breathless. “Okay, sweetheart,” he told her. “No more waiting.”

Before she could say anything in response, Ben withdrew until only the head of his cock rested at her entrance, then rocked back into her with a smooth thrust. Rey couldn’t help herself: she moaned and said, “Again.”

He smiled and traced the lines of her nose with his own, dropping a kiss to her mouth. “So demanding.”

He was still teasing her. The urge to punch him made her fist her hand in his hair, tugging him away from her skin before he could reach her breast. “And you’re holding back.”

“Rey--”

“Don’t,” she interrupted. “Please, don’t. I want all of you.”

Ben looked at her for a long moment. “All of me?”

So, he’d picked up on her underlying meaning then? That she wasn’t just talking about his cock or his hands or his mouth: she wanted Ben Solo in his entirety. Working out the details of how she could let herself have him was too much at the moment, but she was willing to try, starting with the physical component.

Rey nodded, a blush painting her cheeks. She would have ducked her head away, suddenly shy to have admitted so much, but Ben’s fingers squeezed her chin. He forced her to meet his eyes as he thrust into her again, steady though with more emphasis than before. Rey gasped, but met his challenge. She didn’t look away.

“Can you handle it?” he asked softly. “All of me?”

This time when he rocked into her, Rey’s hips matched his, bringing him in deeper -- so deep they both shuddered. “Yes.”

The word fell from her lips over and over as Ben continued, increasing his pace and shortening how far he was willing to withdraw from her. It was as though he wanted to lock himself inside of her and never pull away from her again. Rey’s legs slid from his hips and down the back of his thighs, twining together with his. Sh used her arms to bring him down to her until their bodies were flush and there was hardly any space between them.

Ben panted and groaned, jaw clenched in concentration. Sweat dampened the edge of his hairline and slicked down his spine. Rey rubbed it away, hands exploring every part of him she could reach. There was no teasing anymore, just a combined effort to reach a pinprick of light at the end of a long, dark passage Rey could see as clearly in her mind’s eye as she could feel it in her body. Each movement had her climbing closer and closer, until she was only feet from the waves of radiating light.

She stalled at the threshold, unable to reach what she most desired. Help. She needed help. “Ben,” she breathed, though it was more of a whimper. “I need--”

She didn’t know what she needed, other than a final lift toward the radiating light she could feel warming the blood in her veins. Her nails bit into his shoulder blades, pushing her confusion and her desire across their bond, trying to communicate what she couldn’t do with words.

Ben shifted in response, holding one of her thighs up against his hip to change the angle of contact. He began to sit up on his heels, but Rey wouldn’t allow him to leave her spread out on the bed. She followed him up, arms locked around his neck. The movement jarred their rhythm, and Rey could feel herself falling back into the dark, away from the light. She whined when he pulled out of her completely and nudged her sides with his hands.

“Turn around,” he growled out.

“But--”

“Rey,” he hissed, resting with his heels under him. “Trust me.”

She had told him she did, so she followed his instruction, settling herself against his thighs, feeling his cock between her legs. She expected him to thrust up and inside of her again, but Ben had other ideas. His lips skimmed over her shoulder blade, mouthing a hot line down her spine, then back again, sweeping aside the hair at her nape to kiss there as well. One of his arms snaked around the front of her, his massive hand covering her entire breast and then some. His thumb and forefinger tweaked her nipple into a stiff peak, making Rey arch into his hand, wanting both his lips on her neck and his touch at once.

“Do you like that, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered immediately.

His next whisper, near her ear, made her shiver. “Are you ready for your reward?”

“Kriff, yes.”

Ben manipulated himself beneath her, rubbing the head of his cock along her folds before pushing into her from behind. Rey’s torso fell forward, sagging into his bracing arm, limp with relief at having him sheathed within her again.

Ben didn’t give her any chance to adjust to the new angle, but began thrusting in powerful strokes. Each time, her ass smacked against his thighs, filling the bunkroom with the sounds of flesh on flesh. It wasn’t long before the light came back into sight, more brilliant than the first time, as if sliding back into the dark had intensified it to blinding.

Ben’s free hand skirted down the front of her abdomen, through the curls at the apex of her legs, and found her clit with ease. Though his cock pistoned into her, Ben kept his exterior touch light and slow. The combination was overwhelming, and Rey’s release came out as a shout strangled by a sob.

She didn't intend to share her orgasm over their bond, but the sheer bliss shining down on her bled out and blanketed him as well. As soon as it happened, Ben gasped out her name, stuttering and pressing her forward on all fours, blindsided by her pleasure.

Rey reached behind her, placing her hand on the side of his hip and urging him on, wanting him to find release himself. “All of you,” she panted, rocking herself from side to side while his heavy length rested within her, sending aftershocks of pleasure straight to her stomach. “Please, Ben. Share this with me.”

Ben gathered himself and curved his torso over her spine, caging her in his embrace by placing his legs on either side of hers and doing the same with his arms. Though they were long, Rey had to dip her upper body to the mattress to accommodate him, keeping her ass raised and cushioned against him.

“Rey,” he breathed somewhere near her shoulder. “I'd give you anything. Everything.”

She didn't have it in her to respond: she was so full, so awash with pleasure it was as though she were drowning in it -- in him. The only thing she could do was grind against him to encourage his movement.

Ben thrust into her, all sense of rhythm gone, until she felt him shudder above her, grunting out her name. He lifted himself from her back, gripped her hips, and finally lost himself in the same light she basked in, filling her with his own warmth.

Once spent, Ben turned them both onto their sides, limbs entangled. Rey could still feel him inside of her, softer now, but present. She found she enjoyed the sensation, enjoyed being surrounded by him. They were well-matched in height, but Ben's broad shoulders and muscular thighs dwarfed her within their embrace.

From behind her, heat radiated from him, soothing and welcoming -- so different from the austere façade he wore in their earliest interactions. It was not the Supreme Leader nuzzling at her neck and whispering platitudes into her skin, telling her how beautiful she was, how strong. It wasn't the fearsome Kylo Ren inching the blanket back over their sweat-slicked bodies to ward off the impending chill. It was someone she'd longed for since she last saw him on his knees on Crait.

Slowly, Rey shifted until he slipped from her heat, then turned in his arms, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder, brushing her lips across the crag left by her lightsaber's kiss. “Ben. . .”

“Did I do better?” he asked from above her, sounding almost sleepy. “Are you still cold?”

Her hand smoothed down his arm, persuading her fingers between his own and pulling both between their bodies. Coming down from her high, Rey felt nothing but warmth. The heating system seemed to have finally come to life, circulating hot air around them, but all she needed was the man beside her. “I won't be cold if you stay with me.”

 

* * *

 

Ben propped his head on his hand, looking down at her mussed hair and flushed cheeks while considering her statement. Holding her eyes with his own, Ben brought their joint hands to his mouth, placing a kiss on the back of hers, then directing it to his cheek. She obliged him, running her palm over the side of his face and rubbing her fingertips against the edge of his hairline. Ben leaned into her caress.

“I want to stay, Rey.”

Her eyes swam with tears. “Please, don't say 'but.’”

He brushed hair from her face, wanting to reassure her, but not knowing how to do it. He didn't want to use the word either, but their realities were more severe than simple wants and desires. There was the First Order to contend with and the Resistance to navigate. Would his mother accept him? Even if she did, what would the rest of the people he'd try to kill think?

A hand cupped his cheek. “Ben.”

His thoughts must have leaked across their bond, his mind too open to her now. Ben found he didn't want to hide the vulnerability he felt around the situation. What he wanted was her help.

Finally, he asked, “How?”

Rey's nose scrunched up in thought. “You’re someone who keeps his word, aren't you?”

“I think I’ve proven I am,” he responded.

Her fingers traced his jawline, silently asking it to relax. “You promised me anything. _Everything._ ”

He swallowed, pink racing to the tips of his ears remembering what they'd been involved in during the referenced exchange. “I did.”

“Then you'll find a way,” she told him simply, kissing his chin before tilting it down to kiss the corners of his mouth.

Ben pulled her to him, draping a leg over hers to draw her as close as possible. His mouth slanted over hers, coaxing it open with a swipe of his tongue. When he felt his lower abdomen burn with need, he eased back and confirmed what she believed. “I will.”

Rey shifted her head until it rested on his chest, just over his heart. “I trust you.”

She did. He felt it with every fiber in him she was telling the truth. The girl in his arms wasn’t one for lies -- the denial of her past, perhaps, the only exception. She had given him everything without his having to ask for it this time. “Rey. . .”

“Shh,” she hushed. “We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

Exhausted and sated as he was, Ben liked the sound of her plan. One last time, he brushed his lips against the crown of her head. Then he settled into the warmth of her embrace and succumbed to the unknown with the assurance he would have a partner to walk with him through the shadows and into the light.


End file.
